Two BESE elections were also decided Saturday. Kathy Edmonston won District 6 (Baton Rouge area), replacing Chas Roemer, and Tony Davis won District 4 (Shreveport area). While John Bel Edwards stated again today his intention to replace Superintendent John White, it is unlikely he can do so. With the election of Tony Davis, John White has the support of 7 BESE members, and it would take 8 of the 11 members to replace him.

John Bel Edwards has been a vocal critic of Common Core, but uprooting the academic standards from classrooms will be a huge challenge with the recent compromise bill passed by the Legislature.Continue reading →

A recent Advocate editorial said Edwards may be more informed than Vitter about the failure of charters in East Baton Rouge, but Vitter’s position on charter schools is the right one – students in New Orleans are much better off today than they were pre-Katrina, and charters are a critical component of that success.

High schools across the state are showing significant improvement, but Louisiana standards are not in line with national standards for college readiness – at least not yet. Currently, Louisiana considers an A-graded high school to be one where: 75 percent of students graduate on time; the average ACT score is at least 18; and the average EOC score is Good or above. Beginning in 2016-17, the state will start to raise the bar on every performance measure so that in 10 years, the majority of students in A-rated schools will be college and career ready. Continue reading →